Smithy

Just for a change of pace: breakfast this morning. I like yogurt. I really do. I like avocado. But even that combination gets old after a while. Today, as an experiment, I added tomatoes, olives and oat crumble. Pretty darned good, and more filling than the usual. The "more filling" part is important because, believe it or not, we actually need to go to town today. The driving force is a vital prescription refill that's already waiting for us. (Thanks to our rambles, I have a dozen different pharmacy numbers in as many towns stored in my phone...oh, the signs of age!) But of course, since we're going to town we'll just "pick up a few more things" as well. Better to do so on a full stomach.

My darling's former wife claimed the oil was to keep any leftover pasta from sticking together. I know that one's been discussed (and disputed) here. Somewhere. Your explanation makes more sense. I use one of those spillstopper silicone lids to prevent boilover. Kuhn Rikon Kochblume works well, for example, although there are cheaper versions now. If a touch of oil prevents boilover, that's a lot cheaper and more sustainable than silicone!

It's the same brand (California Olive Ranch, "Destination Series") but the brand itself doesn't always seem consistent. That's an interesting thought. I haven't liked the flavor of this olive oil as much as usual. So far - and this may have to wait until I get home - I have a few controlled experiments to do, don't I? Keeping everything else constant except the olive oil; keeping everything constant except salting (or not) the water*; how long to sweat the garlic; whether to add other ingredients to give it a kick. Keeping everything the same except the pasta shape. My darling ate the leftovers this afternoon for lunch, so there's none left for further analysis. I showed him! I found a piece of pita that did split properly, all the way, and had a couple of pork roast sandwiches. Seen on our afternoon walk: *I know this question generates strong opinions. This is the only topic devoted to the issue that I've been able to find, but I'm sure there was a heated debate - measurements and all - in another topic some years back. I'll try it for myself to see what we think.

That could be. I'm going to scandalize you and some other readers by confessing that I never salt the pasta water (I know, I know ) but not doing so may be more of an issue with the thicker pasta strands.

Spiny though it is, this is a pretty good place to be sheltering for a while. We need to move toward home, but the weather there is still forbidding and at present we can't move much farther east without hitting bad storms. We'll be here a few more days, counting our blessings and pondering culinary mysteries. It's strange how some dishes, no matter how simple, refuse to be repeatable for me. I think the ability to refine, define and make repeatable a particular dish must be a skill that separates the pros from the hacks. I am no pro. Years ago I came up with a simple shrimp/pasta meal that we dubbed "Shrimp Bolivar" for the location where I first tried it. It's based on pasta aglio e olio. The additions usually are shrimp and Parmesan cheese. How difficult could it be to reproduce? But it's never the same twice. Even when I faithfully follow the notes I made after a particularly successful iteration, it doesn't come out the same. Last night's version had some admitted changes. Asparagus is not usually part of this, nor are pine nuts. But I wanted crunch and we needed to use that asparagus. It was good, but bland. We spent the entire dinner trying to work out what it needed to spice it up. Tabasco came closest for him, but wasn't quite right. (I thought it a horrid combination.) Tajin seasoning came closer for me, along with salt and pepper. Our best guess as to the blandness is that I cooked the garlic too long to keep any of its oomph. This garlic is powerful stuff, and getting more powerful as it ages, as my tzatziki attests. But I may have overdone the garlic-sweating last night. Maybe the simple fact that I used linguini this time, rather than capellini as last time, changed the balance of flavors and textures drastically. Maybe this is the sort of dish that depends utterly on the quality of the ingredients. What do you think?

Thanks for this recommendation. I've been looking at their ads, but in no position to buy from them yet. Come May, I hope the story will be different.

Here's an upsetting article from The Guardian: large-scale farms geared for bulk shipments (restaurant supply, for instance) can't get their produce to the smaller markets and users where they're desperately needed. The crops and milk are going to waste instead. I see the logistical and packaging problems involved, thanks to the article, but it seems to me that this tragedy should be surmountable somehow. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/us-coronavirus-outbreak-agriculture-food-supply-waste

Last night's pork roast dinner was a treat. We went the lazy route with frozen corn, but even that was good.

If you like the aesthetics of wood over plastic, you might consider a cutting board by Epicurean. They are guaranteed dishwasher-proof and easy on knives. They are also considerably more expensive than bamboo or poly, I fear, unless you can find them on sale someplace. Disclaimer: I have some and have run them through the dishwasher, but haven't had them long enough to know how well they hold up over time.

More about the buttermilk ricotta, please. How did you make it? That may be just the way to use up some buttermilk I've had hanging around for far too long.

Yes, so sorry! Tomorrow will be April 13, and that is the last day of the sale. Guess I was stuck in a time warp.

I just got another email from Sur la Table. Their big sale ends tomorrow, March 13.

@Kim Shook - so you did all steps as before, except 4 minutes rather than 5?

Barrio Bread, a world-class bakery in Tucson, is currently offering video courses at a discount. So far there are two courses: "How to Make Barrio Bread Pizza Crust" (Free!) and "How to Make Whole-Grain Sourdough Bread" for half-price using the code FLATTENTHECURVE. This course is normally $30; with the discount it's $15. It can also be purchased as a gift to someone else. I think the offer lasts until the end of April, but I've lost that information. I'm partway through the pizza crust course and I think the video instruction is good. I have no affiliation with Barrio Bread, except as a very satisfied customer.

Late breakfast again: we do like our long morning walks when we're staying put. He had his usual fruit salad and Cheerios. I indulged in another pita, this time stuffed with cream cheese and avocado. This one didn't split properly either, but it's lightly toasted and the flavor is quite satisfactory. The bread flour is the Barrio Blend from Barrio Bread, here in Tucson. I am leaning strongly toward that "last trip" to town before we leave, so I can get more. They don't do mail order. We decided on pork roast for tonight - the usual treatment, with Lipton's Onion Soup mix and potatoes. I'm still pondering the vegetable accompaniment.

I am sooo glad I clicked on that link. Those are brilliant!

Nachos for dinner last night, using the leftovers from the previous taco dinner. There were still a few taco shells, and I broke them up and supplemented them with chips. Not shown: the salsa we added at the table, and the Kilt Lifter beer to accompany. It was pretty good TV-watching food. I think I preferred the taco version, at least in part because of the fresh chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce I'd added that time. But this scratched an itch for me, and it cleared some leftovers out of the fridge. The saguaros are starting to pop out little buds at their tips, and I've spotted a few flowers. We won't be here (I hope!) for the fruit harvest this summer, but I have some saguaro seeds from a food festival here last fall. I can't say they have a particular flavor, but they're crunchy and make a nice bread topping. There's an especially interesting saguaro near one of the paths we regularly walk. It seems a prickly pear seed managed to hitch a ride up to a woodpecker cavity, 20 or 30 feet off the ground. Won't that be a sight in a decade or so! It's supposed to rain tonight. I'm trying to decide between a slow cooker or an oven operation. We could have bean stew and cornbread. We could have pork roast. We could cook the pork brisket that is in danger of making the round trip from home without ever being thawed!

No big cast-iron Dutch ovens? Somehow, I thought large-volume cast iron was part of your Renaissance Faire batterie de cuisine.

I've made crackers before, but never like these. They look deliciously crackly. Got a recipe that you can share?

@Haley, those are adorable! Congratulations on the work and the successful sales!

Today's very late breakfast: some of yesterday's pita, freshly hard-steamed (still warm) eggs, some of the new Egyptian feta, ground cumin. An aging Roma tomato that hadn't found its way into any meals earlier. I knew some of the pitas hadn't puffed properly. By chance I picked two that hadn't, so our sandwiches were a combination of pocket and open-faced sandwich. Tasted pretty good, though. This "creamy-style" Egyptian feta cheese was a new version, so a test for us. We like it. I may decide to go back for more before we leave town...which will make yet another "last" grocery stop before we get home.

Did someone (i.e. @IowaDee) mention pita? In fact, that was part of today's baking plan. I had a mind to make pita before all the aforementioned souvlaki and pilaf had been devoured. That plan was only half successful. (I was the culprit, not he.) There is still a half container of that batch. We have more pork and chicken in the freezer. All is not lost. This batch of pita was based on @FoodMan's recipe and instructions here. I say "based on" because (a) I used some of my precious Barrio Bread Mix of local heritage wheat flours, and (b) my nascent feel for breads told me that I needed more water. I kept kneading, and adding, and kneading, and resting (the dough and me) and kneading some more. Finally, it felt right. There is an art, I think, to making pita puff up properly. You have to roll or pat the dough out properly, and you have to have the heat just so. It was hot out today, and hotter in the trailer. I used the camp stove and a cast iron pan. It took time to get the heat right. The first couple of pieces were scorched, For the most part, though, it''s great. I had one of the scorched pieces this evening, and it was still good. My darling was a bit put out when he saw my bread-baking activities. We'd already agreed on his beloved Superburgers for the evening. We'd purchased whole wheat hamburger buns at the grocery store yesterday. He thinks bread is best eaten fresh. I don't disagree: but I really, really wanted to bake today. I think these will feature in tomorrow's breakfast. I wondered a few nights ago whether I'd been outfoxed on the cooking of Superburgers. The answer is no! He cooked them, taking a page from my book of keeping the heat low, flipping frequently, and pressing to check the juices. The burgers were excellent. Shown below: my burger, with mayo and mustard; on the side: the garlicky green beans and a tomato decorated with tzatziki. Vampires need not apply.

I can't find an end date for the sale on the Sur la Table email.

Well, well, well! Thanks to @Anna N's reminder and tweaking back here, I decided to try making tzatziki. I was able to get more yogurt during yesterday's shopping expedition. Haven't been crazy about the stuff I picked up the time before. Maybe cucumber, garlic and dill would improve it. Not shown here: red wine vinegar. It's part of the recipe also. I used the recipe from Susanna Hoffman's The Olive and the Caper: Adventures in Greek Cooking. This book is a fun read, and the recipes I've tried so far are good. I recommend it. The interesting thing about this tzatziki recipe is the way the garlic is handled: chop it up into a layer of salt, then add the whole shebang to the yogurt. I'd never seen that trick before, but it seems a good way to get the garlic to start releasing its juices. The sauce on its own is pretty potent, given the strength of the garlic I used. Put with the pilaf and souvlaki, though -- Ooh la la! Or, I guess I should say, Opa! That sauce made a much, much greater difference than I anticipated. Thanks again to Anna! I will remember the value of this sauce in the future. Now I just have to work out what else to do with this sauce. There's a lot. I also have to go brush my teeth! This garlic has staying power.

That's a lovely post, David. Thank you. I never met Steven, but it was my public and private interactions with him during a series of eGCI courses that convinced me to become a sustaining member. My cookery took off, I found kindred spirits here, and my life has been the better for his influence.